The Western Australia government is set to install baited hooks off Perth’s popular beaches in response to seven fatal shark attacks in three years.

But protesters say a cull is not the answer, and will only damage the sea’s delicate ecosystem.

More than 4,000 people gathered for a demonstration at Perth’s Cottesloe beach alone.

“Without the sharks there will be no future for humanity because they balance out the ecosystem and every living creature in the sea is really important,” one protester said.

At a demonstration in Melbourne, one protester said: “We’re better than killing wildlife in vengeance. We need to use the science that’s there, to work with the science that’s there, to learn to live with these creatures instead of culling them.”
Sabotage fears

The WA government is planning to install some 72 baited hooks on drum lines one kilometre (mile) off the beaches by 10 January.

A contract to maintain and patrol the lines will be awarded to commercial fishermen in the coming days.

The protesters are afraid that sharks less than 3 meters long and other sea creatures will also be caught in the lines with bait which the authorities want to install.

January 2014: Despite experiencing just 20 fatal shark attacks in their area in the past 100 years, the government of Western Australian has decided on a controversial policy of catching, destroying and dumping sharks of more than 3m to come near its popular beaches: here.